Dissolving Paint

Any clues how to protect cellulose based (Halfrauds can) paints from
unleaded fuel damage.
I made a complete arse of things this morning.
Down to filling station, fill up tank, back home, park on sidestand (slight
downhill) come out 10 minutes later the tank was stripped back to the metal
where fuel had run out through the slightly ferked rubber seal on the petrol
cap. To compund my misery there was a nice mixture of dissolved paint
hardening nicely on the slightly warm polished alloy cases and zost pipes.
My mate got a tank professionally done and it got borked at the petrol tap
where there was a slight leak, the paint came up in a huge blister which
eventually cracked.
I was going to go for a professional re-spray but if unleaded shags paint
like that at least the Halfrauds can method is cheap just a PITA to do and
in no way such a nice finish.
Anyone had the same problems or got any solutions.

Ras

 

I don't know about a cure, I'm afraid, but the same problem - Yes. :-(
Haven't been stripped, but even the slightest splash eats the lacquer. Also
stripped the lacquer off the engine side covers. The paint was Halfords, but
the lacquer was a proper commercial cellulose one.

 

hobbit says...

Don't blame the fact that you used unleaded fuel or Halfords paint. You
should have used a 2-pack lacquer, simple as that. I had cellulose
paint stained and destroyed by 2 star fuel back in the 70s when we
didn't have unleaded. All the modern bike makers use 2-pack paints and
they aren't affected by any petrol.

 

Answers the question Lozzo.
It's just I didn't remember paint getting stripped like that back in the
70's. The tank had 3 coats of primer, 2-3 coats of paint and 1 lacquer coat
in 10 minutes it was back to the metal in places.
I have never been involved with 2 pack (as yet) Is that the stuff that you
need breathing apparatus to work with as the chemicals in it make your
goolies fall off or similar.

Ras

 

It's just I didn't remember paint getting stripped like that back in the

Acrylic spray paint (sold as car touch-up paint): I've
painted loads of tanks with the stuff and it resists petrol
well. Not 2-pack well, but as it only costs a fiver to paint
a bike I don't mind re-doing it every three years.

Wax the paintwork when dry (caranuba wax is great) and it'll
last even longer.

 

I think it was on Sun, 15 May 2005 19:35:06 GMT that "Rasman99"

That's the stuff that gives off Cyanide when the two parts mix & cure
isn't it? Gives a rock hard finish once cured but needs professional
kit to apply.

Years ago I bought a 1956 Enfield 350 Clipper that had been
'finished' in blue Hammerite. It would have taken something more toxic
than petrol to shift that stuff. Even Nitromors had problems getting
the bloody stuff off the tank.
--

Rob
Broseley, Shropshire
1991 Yamaha XV 535 Virago
1997 Rover 623GSi

 

Hammerite is evil stuff. I also think the finish looks gash. Smoothrite
gives a much better appearance.

 

I'm a bit confused here.

First of all, 2-pac paint is nasty industrial stuff, and can only
really be applied with a air-fed mask and proper extractor fans in the
the workshop. Not really the sort of thing the hobbyist can do.

Secondly, I paint the Team UKRM race bike with ordinary over the
counter cellulose based paints, and never had a problem with petrol
removing it, and you've seen how much fuel we splash about when we do
a pit stop. So I don't understand why you and the OP have both have
fuel stripped by petrol.

 

I'm with you on this one Champ. Lozzo reckoned that fuel has damaged
cellulose paint for years which is probably the case and that 2 pack is the
answer.
I am sure he is right but what gets to me is the way the tank got utterly
fucked in 10 minutes, if I had left petrol seeping for 24 hours then fair
do's.
I have slopped petrol about (unintentionally) many times on cellulose based
paints on SOBS and SOCS and not had that damage. I suppose my questions are.

1:- Is unleaded more damaging than leaded fuel.
2:- Is a clear lacquered finish less resistant than a straight cellulose
paint finish

I am a hobbyist and no way can afford the required equipment for 2 pack and
I am not really that keen/ can't afford a visit to a professional sprayer.

I am at a bit of a loss though, if the paint/lacquer resistance to unleaded
is that shite there seems little point going down that road. The finish was
in no way professional but IMO was good enough and appropriate for a SOB.

I wish I had taken a photo to show the damage, it's all rubbed down now as I
am attempting to bodge it ATM.

Ras

 

I really can't understand this. I've never seen petrol damage paint
that fast. Are you sure it was properly dry?

I'm sure it isn't.

I would expect lacquer to tougher than paint generally.

I'll repeat what I said in my previous post - I paint my race bike
using ordinary cellulose paint [1], don't bother to lacquer it, and
then splash loads of petrol about during race meetings. The worst the
petrol has done is stain the paint - no signs of lifting it at all.

Which leads me to believe there's something else going on in your
case. Dunno what, tho.

[1] I use a small compressor and cheapie spray gun from MachineMart.
However, I have used aerosols too, and you can get a very good finish
with them too.

 

I got a mate to speak to a mate who works in a bodyshop, verdict is ...
Lozzo is right regarding 2 pack paint being petrol resistant but both you
and I seem to agree the scale of the damage was astonishing.
As I mentioned I am bodging a repair ATM to get the bike back on the road, I
will attempt an experiment with a piece of sprayed scrap later on and try to
post some photos, I swear thinners wouldn't have done better job! The paint
had been on about 9 months.

Ras
--

 

Champ says...

I didn't say it stripped it, I said it destroyed it. That to me is what
bad staining is. I might as well not have bothered painting the thing
if I'd known it was going to end up looking like shite as soon as a
splash of fuel got on it.

I've had all my bike fuel tanks painted with 2-pack paint since, but I
still use cheapo aerosols to do paint repairs on fairing panels. The
black painted parts on my Thunderace were virtually reprayed for about
30 quid with Holts cans.

 

Don't be so clumsy with the fuel nozzle.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2
`\|/`
`

 

Thus spake Ace unto the assembled multitudes:

Reminds me of the day in 1989 when I picked up a brand new Kawa GT550 (with
near-empty tank, the tight bastards J.S.Gedge of Bexhill), stopped
at the nearest fuel station (non-self-serve) and the attendant managed to
splash fuel all over the fucking tank, with less than a mile on the clock.
Thankfully no damage but I wasn't best pleased. Mind you, it made it the
most interesting day I ever had on the GT...

 

I prefer acrylic paint but it's not the easiest stuff to get. The most
damage I have suffered from petrol with cellulose is the lacquer yellowing.
I think there must have been something contaminating the finish anyway and
the petrol just stuffed it up completely.

 

Whatever. Petrol doesn't remove Hammerite. Strange - perhaps it simply
wasn't keyed to the interior, or the vibes or the Petrol Pixies took it
away.

 

No

 

On an old bike of mine, the petrol tank was rusty inside. I poured

Petrol strips uncured hammerite off a tank faster than
nitromors shifts skin off your fingers.

Hammerite/smoothrite is petrol-proof ONCE CURED. Curing
takes weeks or months. Read the instructions on the tin...

 

Was it rust free?

 

Ah, right. Thanks.

But whoever bothers to RTFM?